SABR Member John Thorn Named MLB's Official Historian

From Major League Baseball on March 1:

Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced today that author John Thorn has been named the Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball.

Thorn is the author and editor of numerous baseball books, including the forthcoming Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, which will be published on March 15th by Simon & Schuster. His other books include Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Total Baseball encyclopedia series. Thorn, a member of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR), was the senior creative consultant for Ken Burns' Baseball series.

As Official Historian, Thorn will lead various research endeavors and special projects on behalf of Major League Baseball.

"I am very pleased to appoint John Thorn as Major League Baseball's Official Historian," Commissioner Selig said. "I have long admired John's work, his love for baseball and his dedication to the practice of history. John will be an important resource to many of us at Major League Baseball, and I am excited that his valuable research will have this new platform in the years ahead."

"I have loved baseball all my life," Thorn said. "I am honored now to serve the game and to help share with fans the joys of digging into baseball's fascinating history."

Thorn succeeds the late Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times baseball writer Jerome Holtzman, who served as Official Baseball Historian from 1999 until his passing in 2008.